Paris Opera House

Paris Opera House

Alvanon has announced the completion of a two-year extraordinary consultancy and fit project for the world renowned costume atelier of the Paris Opera House, one of the most important cultural institutions in France. During the project Alvanon scanned the body shapes of more than 100 adult and child dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet and school. The anonymous 3D body scans were used by Alvanon’s team of sculptors to model and produce small, medium and large morphologically representative technical fit mannequins (forms) of male and female dancers. A total of 30 Alvanon forms and pattern block solutions were delivered to the Paris Opera House in time for its designers, pattern makers and sewers to create or adjust the costumes for its 2015 festive performances.

Alvanon donated over 250,000 Euros worth of consultancy and customised fit tools to the extraordinary project. The Alvanon team was given unprecedented access to the ‘secret world’ of the atelier and was permitted to produce three videos on the project. The first is a 30 second ‘Season’s Greetings’ video that will be launched in time for the festive holiday season together with a more detailed business video on the ‘behind the scenes’ work of the atelier. A consumer documentary video will be launched in January 2016.

As Benjamin Millepied, directeur de la danse of the Paris Opera House, explained: “A great costume can really empower and give confidence to our dancers. We have the best atelier in the world – their expertise level is incredible.” Xavier Ronze, chef du service couture, added: “The collaboration with Alvanon allowed us to identify more precisely the most common types of morphology in our dancers. Our dancers are athletes – the male dancers have broad muscular shoulders, their shoulder blades are really chiselled, they have pronounced posteriors and thighs with small waists and our female dancers have big rib cages and smaller busts with really defined and sloping shoulders – they are a unique shape. The Alvanon mannequins enable us to work quickly and get our fit right first time which means less time in the fit sessions for our busy dancers.”

Janice Wang, CEO of Alvanon and one of the key drivers of the project said: “The Paris Opera House contacted us because it needed a new technical fit mannequin. We visited the atelier and recognised its incredible costume artisans needed new tools so we decided to create an extraordinary project and help them.” She went on: “It has turned into a passion project for us. Every one of our Alvanon team who worked on this project loved it, from the consultants and scanners through to our 3D sculptors and workers in the factory. Even the seasoned film maker Jill Selisman of Ubilam Limited who produced the videos described it as a ‘once in a life-time pinch me project’.” Janice Wang concluded: “The atelier of the Paris Opera House melds science with art and creates something beautiful and we hope our festive video conveys the magic and joy of this incredible project.”

About the Paris Opera House

Founded in 1661, the Academie Royale de Danse is the first of the academies established by Louis XIV, a lover of dance and himself a highly proficient dancer. The Academie Royale de Musique, the forerunner of the Paris Opera, was founded in 1669: more than a simple academy, it boasted a troupe of musicians, singers and, for the first time, dancers – the first professional ballet dancers in history. Created in 1713 by Louis XIV, the Conservatoire, the forerunner of the current Paris Opera Ballet School, is the oldest ballet school in the world. The Paris Opera’s repertoire is probably one of the richest in the dance world: it is made up of classical and romantic works, works from Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes as well as modern choreographies, neoclassical ballets, contemporary pieces and numerous creations commissioned from guest choreographers or dancers in the Company. www.operadeparis.fr

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